Ndiang'ui's Victory and the Cost of Police Misconduct and Rights Violations
Barely fourteen months after being forced into hiding by an unlawful police operation on his house, Ndiang'ui Kinyagia has been awarded Sh 5 million by the High Court. The ruling sets an important precedent for hundreds of protesters whose rights have also been violated. It must also lead us to ask, what is the financial cost of illegal policing practices and who should be liable?
On Saturday 21 June 2025, heavily armed Directorate of Criminal Investigations officers raided the IT expert’s home in Kinoo, Kiambu County as they were investigating a social media post before the first anniversary of the 25 June occupation of Parliament. Failing to find him, the officers forcibly entered the house and seized four of his devices and passports. Police denials collapsed when a signed inventory of the seized items emerged. His disappearance triggered habeas corpus proceedings and #FreeNdianguiKinyagia online campaigns before he resurfaced in court thirteen days later, saying he had gone into hiding for fear of his life.
On 22 September, Justice Patricia Nyaundi ruled that by invading his home and seizing his property without first obtaining a search warrant from a court, police officers had breached his constitutional right to privacy (Article 31), the National Police Service Act (Section 60) and the Criminal Procedure Code. These laws require all searches to be accompanied by a court-approved search warrant that details which offence is being pursued. The person being searched has the right to inspect the warrant and receive an inventory of any property being seized.
Her second major finding is among the sharpest of judicial rebukes of security operations against protesters in recent years. It establishes an important precedent for cases where the state has intimidated or terrorised those it regards as political critics. Kenyan law does not permit state agencies to render a person homeless through fear. Fear strips individuals of their dignity, especially when perpetrated by the very institutions established to protect them.
For these violations, the court has awarded Ndiang'ui Sh 5 million, adding to a growing bill for police misconduct. In July 2024, Siddique Javeria received Sh 10 million for the killing of her husband and Pakistani investigative journalist Arshad Sharif. In March 2026, the Kisumu High Court awarded 29 victims from the 2023 protests, Sh 38.6 million in reparations.
The Ndiang’ui judgement is significant for the Office of the President’s Sh 2 billion programme to compensate victims of violent protest policing. Ndiang'ui's award is 66 per cent more than the compensation being awarded for a police killing under that programme. Further, the Panel of Experts' refusal to compensate 35 survivors of enforced disappearances could lead to a flurry of civil suits exposing the state to liabilities far beyond the Sh105 million recently ringfenced for the survivors by the court.
With more cases still before the courts and abductions continuing, unlawful policing is becoming increasingly expensive. The financial liability now exceeds the police service's development budget (Sh 1.7 billion) and is 1.6 per cent of the entire annual police budget for 2025/26. Cynical state officers may argue awards like Ndiang’ui’s only end up as pending bills. This would only reveal another level of irresponsibility and impunity. With interest accruing daily, precious resources that could be going to officers’ salaries, benefits, training and equipment will be diverted at some point.
Perhaps it is time a good citizen filed an access to information request to the Attorney General’s Civil Litigation Department and asked for the register listing certificates of orders against the IG, DCI and NPS since 2022. It might reveal another reason for urgent, radical reform. Perhaps it is time Kenyans demand police officers personally bear the costs or better still reimburse the police service for breaking the law. Why should 120,000 officers bear the consequences of unlawful actions of a few?
Under the Government Proceedings Act, the court is obligated to issue a certificate of order to pay Ndiang’ui Kinyagia by 13 October. As Accounting Officer, the IG must settle the award from the police budget. The clock is ticking.
This opinion was also published in the Saturday Standard, 26 September 2026.
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